She kept coming closer, no longer trying to flee.

I held up my hand. “Stay right there.”

“Jethro…don’t do this.”

“No, you don’t do this,” I snarled. “You don’t know what you’re risking.”

Nila didn’t reply, and she didn’t stop.

My throat dried up. I was stuck between the wall my father had erected and the chasm she created. I need help. My hands shook as I charged toward my bedside and scooped up the bottle of pills.

My body blared from the fight, but it was nothing to the way my mind bled being around her. It was like claws on a blackboard, forcing me to listen—regardless if I wanted to or not.

The tablets offered quietness. Peace.

I needed that.

“No!” Nila sprinted forward, knocking the bottle from my hand. The tablets spewed all over the carpet.

“What the fuck?”

“Whatever they are—don’t take any more.”

My temper bubbled. “They’re painkillers!” I held up my torn knuckles, shoving the evidence in her face. “See.”

She scowled. “No, they aren’t.” Rummaging in the first aid kit, she brought out some anti-inflammatories and paracetamol. “These are painkillers.” Snatching my hand, she dumped the blister packet into my palm. “Whatever those others are—they’re hurting you, not helping you.”

Throwing away the pills, I ran a hand over my face. Being this awake after a month of listlessness, my old concerns came back. I missed Jasmine. I missed Kes. And fuck, I missed Nila. So damn much.

I looked at her beneath my brow, unable to fight anymore.

She wanted to talk? Fine. I’d talk.

We’d played cat and mouse too many fucking times. The trap had sprung, and if death was the reward, then I sure as hell would make it worthwhile.

Capturing her hips, I dragged her closer. She gasped as I circled my thumbs on the cool satin of her night-shorts. “You came here for a reason. What was it?”

Nila blinked, lust blazing in her black eyes. “Eh…I came to…”

I tugged her closer, fitting her small frame against mine. “Yes?”

My heartbeat raced. My cock thickened. Giving in was an ultimate aphrodisiac, and the pain dissolved in favour of my intense need to fuck her.

I cocked an eyebrow, dragging my gaze down her body.

She had magic. I didn’t deny that. Magic that we hadn’t managed to take even though we’d treated her like a witch with the ducking stool.

Swallowing hard, I slinked my fingers into her hair, curling them around her nape. She bit her lip as I pressed my thickening erection on her belly. “You didn’t come to talk, did you? You came for this.” I rocked again.

Her eyes snapped closed.

“Admit it,” I purred. “Admit that all of this is our version of foreplay. We argue. We fight. And then…” My fingers tightened around her neck. “We fuck.”

She made a breathy noise that made my heart crack and bleed. “You’re right…” Her hand disappeared between us, latching around my cock through the towel.

I bit back a growl as her thumb pressed the crown, shooting electric bolts into my balls.

Her nipples peaked beneath the black satin. The lust she’d conjured in my office at Diamond Alley came back in full force.

“Goddammit, you test me.” Fisting her hair, I jerked her backward, supporting her spine as I ducked to suck her nipple.

She cried out, her hand releasing my cock to tug on the knot in the towel. “Yes…Jethro.”

“You truly are the worst kind of punishment,” I panted, sucking, grazing her with my teeth.

She squirmed. She was as fucked as I was—sex-hazed and drunk. Lust infused the very air—desire became oxygen and hunger became life.

We were both destroyed. And the only cure was to give in.

“I’ll give you what you’re looking for.” I walked her backward to the bed.

She looped her arms over my shoulders, leaping into my embrace. “Give me everything. I beg you.”

I caught her, holding her weight as her legs wrapped around my hips. She thrust against me.

“Fuck, Nila.”

A few more steps and I’d have her on the bed. If I could fucking walk. My entire body vibrated with need. “Why did you come here?”

Her lips parted. Her black hair shimmered in the lowlights of my bedside lamps. “You want the truth?”

I nodded.

Pressing her breasts against my chest, she whispered in my ear, “I came here to be filled, taken, ridden. I came to find you again. I came to remind you of what we have. I came for so many reasons, Jethro, but most of all, I came to save you.”

My soul swelled as the mattress hit my knees. I folded her backward, drinking in her flushed skin and sparkling eyes. I couldn’t speak. What was there to say to that?

I don’t need fucking saving?

I don’t want you to come for me?

Of course, I wanted that. Anyone after a lifetime of loneliness would dream of someone accepting them unconditionally.

All I wanted to do was crash to my knees and beg—fucking beg for her to finally understand—to see the only way to exist was to let me be who I was born to be. I had to take her life. I had to stay alive. One of us would die—if not both.

She wanted hope—the belief that this could have a happy ending.

But it can’t.

And that was too much to fucking bear.

She scooted toward my pillows, spreading her legs. With sexy boldness, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of her shorts and shimmied out of them.

I swallowed. Hard.

I prowled toward her on hands and knees, unable to tear my eyes away from the dampness between her legs. “You want to be ridden? Let me make your wishes come true.”

I reached out to touch her, but she rolled away.

I blinked; the urge to chase her hammered at my skull. “Come here.”

She sat up, tugging the hem of her top, wrenching it over her head.

Naked.

Gloriously fucking naked.

I reached for her again, but she scrambled over my sheets.

A fleeting thought came. That quote to Vanity Fair about miscarrying. Was it true? Could she have been pregnant with my child? My heart fisted. I couldn’t unscramble how that made me feel.

“Come here,” I growled again.

“Come and get me.”

I trembled with the idea of her becoming more than just a woman I’d fallen for but family. If she carried my baby, we would be joined forever.

And you know what Cut would do.

My heart shut down.

I focused on sex—trying to separate emotional from physical gratification. I lied to myself, but it was better than asking her what truly happened while she was free.

“You want to play? Fine, I can play.”

She’d upset me without even trying. I wanted payback.

With a vicious yank, I untied the towel and hurled myself across the bed. I snagged her waist, slamming her onto her back.

Naked skin against naked skin.

I’d never felt anything so delicious.

She cried out as we bounced and collided, coming to rest on top of the blankets. Instantly, sharp unbridled lust laced around us. She smelled so good. Felt so good.

So warm.

So right.

Her chest rose and fell, teasing her nipples against my skin, twining her legs with mine.

I swooped down and bit her throat below her collar. “See what happens when you run?” Her incredible smell punched me harder than any of the bastards on the side of the road.

“You’re crushing me,” she breathed, her stomach fluttering against mine. Her fingernails dragged along my naked arse. “It’s not enough.”

Her talons sent shivers up my spine. I was so close to diving inside her. I snagged her wrists, pinning them above her head.

“Do you enjoy being spread-eagled beneath me?” I nuzzled her neck. “You’re my prisoner, yet you keep thinking you can win.”

She stiffened. “I think it’s time we agree we’re on the same side.” Her gaze darkened, a mask slipping into place. “I don’t want to win or lose anymore.” Struggling in my hold, she pressed a kiss on my jaw. “I just want you.”

My cock twitched, agreeing wholeheartedly.

I no longer wanted to be on anyone’s side but hers. That included my own.

Fuck, what a mess this has become.

When she’d left, I’d been willing to sacrifice my life to save hers. I would’ve died if it meant the Debt Inheritance had been void. But now—now I had to stay alive to ensure the Final Debt was paid.

I rocked against her pussy. “I agree…” Adjusting my hold on her wrists, I locked both with one hand and trailed the other over the delectable lines of her body. “Same team.”

She shuddered beneath my touch. “You mean it?”

I grabbed her breast, pinching her nipple. “I mean it.”

Her lips fell wide. A sigh escaped. And I took full advantage.

I kissed her.

She moaned, her mouth submitting to mine. Within a moment, the kiss went from a connection of lips to something deep and ravenous.